Published 1867 (NT) and 1890 (full Bible)
Darby Bible (DBY)
John Nelson Darby — the founder of the Plymouth Brethren and an influential dispensationalist — produced a careful, scholarly translation aimed at serious students who could not read the original languages. His footnotes are unusually detailed for a single-translator project.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal."
Translators
John Nelson Darby
Source text
Hebrew Masoretic Text (Old Testament) and a critical Greek text close to the Tregelles edition (New Testament).
Language
Late-19th-century English, formal but precise
Copyright
Public domain — free to read, share, and quote.
History
- 1867 — Darby publishes his English New Testament.
- 1871 — A revised New Testament edition is released.
- 1890 — The full Bible (Old and New Testaments together) is issued, two years after Darby's death, completed from his notes.
Strengths
- Scholarly precision in rendering Greek and Hebrew grammar.
- Detailed footnotes explaining textual variants and translation choices.
- Public domain.
Notes for readers
- Word order can feel stilted; intended as a study aid rather than a public-reading Bible.
- Uses 'Jehovah' for the divine name in the Old Testament.
Compare with
World English Bible (WEB)
The World English Bible is a freely-distributable, modern-English revision of the ASV. It keeps the literal, formal-equivalence approach of its parent translation while replacing archaic 'thee/thou' language with contemporary speech.
King James Version (KJV)
Commissioned by King James I of England in 1604 and published in 1611, the King James Version (also called the Authorized Version) is the most influential English Bible ever produced. Its rhythms shaped English literature for four centuries.
American Standard Version (ASV)
The American Standard Version is the American counterpart to the English Revised Version (1881–1885). It became the most widely-used scholarly translation of the early 20th century and is the parent text of the RSV, NASB, and WEB.
Bible in Basic English (BBE)
The Bible in Basic English uses a deliberately small vocabulary so that readers with limited English — children, English-as-a-second-language students, and the visually impaired who rely on read-aloud — can follow the whole biblical narrative without stumbling over rare words.
Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
Robert Young's translation is famous for its extreme literalness: Hebrew and Greek verb tenses are mapped onto English continuous and perfect forms even when the result reads strangely. It is a study Bible, not a devotional one — invaluable for tracing what the original languages actually say.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner Revision) (DRA)
The Douay-Rheims is the historic Catholic English Bible. Translated from the Latin Vulgate by English exiles in France, it predates the King James Version and was the standard Catholic English text for centuries. The widely-read modern form is Bishop Challoner's mid-1700s revision.